The Bride
by Shade Penn
Summary: "You may keep the world at bay, but I keep you at bay." If Kushina had known somone had been listening to those words and decided to act on it, she would have kept her mouth shut. Now it was too late to take it back. No longer a oneshot!


_'How very… _fitting _this is_.' She thought staring out at the creatures snapping at a crevice in the wall. She never really left her room, but after hearing the commotion, she had to see what was going on. She'd heard the sounds the creatures made through her door, but had never seen them before, and had never cared too.

Her purple eyes narrowed when they locked with an equally narrow pair of yellow eyes. "Don't just _stand_ there; _do something!"_

She sneered at him. "They are _your_ creations, are they not? _You_ call them off," she paused with deliberate thoughtfulness as they ignored her presence, "or unless there's some specific reason they've turned on you."

The eyes narrowed further. "Listen here, _woman_; you _will_ help me."

She gritted her teeth. "Then it appears neither of us are getting what we want." She said coldly and turned on her heel.

_"Kushina-chan! Where are you Kushina-chan?"_ A voice cried out.

She turned on her heel so fast she was almost a blur and she ran over to the crevice, her face contorted in rage as she glared at the man, the creatures skittering away from her. "How _dare_ you! Where did you even _get_ his voice?"

The man smirked at her and held up a glittering box just out of Kushina's reach. "You would have known if you came out of your room once in a while; this box contains all of your _dear_ Minato's memories… do you want them?"

Kushina's eyes, which had been trained on the box for the entire sentence, tore her gaze away and glanced up, her eyes narrowing once more. "I could just take it from you; I still don't have to help you."

"Ah," he said unconcerned, a shift from his previous attitude, though Kushina suspected it was because it was _her_ trying to get at him than one of his creatures, "but you don't know how to open this, do you? Again, something you would know if you _bothered_ to leave your room."

Kushina's gazed darkened. "You wouldn't have let me leave this place anyway, so what would be the point of leaving my room? That is the prison I have some control over at least." She said bitterly.

"It's not a prison!" he snapped. "You were free to go whenever you wanted too."

_"Were?"_ Kushina repeated sharply. "What have you been doing?!" she shouted before looking around at the creatures that seemed to be reacting to her anxiety but not willing to get close to her as her anger still overrode it. She stalked away from the crevice briskly and made her way toward the entrance, her hooded cloak fluttering out behind her.

"Get back here, woman!"

Kushina ignored him as she looked up at where the sky should have been through a rotting bed, but there was nothing but darkness and the debris strewn around her. She gritted her teeth and made her way back into the main room, heading straight for the crevice and wanted nothing more than to reach in and strangle him if she thought it would do anything.

"I repeat; what did you do?!"

He stared pointed at the creatures surrounding the woman and she sneered once more before pulling the cape part of her cloak up to let the material shield him for the most part and she glowered at the creatures threateningly to keep them away. When they made it to the next room over, Kushina pulled the cloak away and closed the door before she turned her angry gaze to the man.

"Now, give me the box." She said holding out her hand.

The man stared down at the box in contemplation before gazing flatly at the woman and hid the box on his person. "No, I don't think I will."

Kushina's glare hardened and she clenched her fists. "Oh and why not?"

"All these years I've wanted to find that chink in your armour, and now that I have it, maybe now you'll be more _co-operative_ than you've been throughout the years since you got here." He replied.

"To which I remind you; _you_ were the one who brought me here against my will and never let me leave!" Kushina snapped, and though she was usually so calm and level-headed, being kidnapped and forced to stay in such a nightmarish place wore on her nerves _a lot_ and now she was hardly the person she had been before.

"And as _I've_ said, you were free to leave whenever you wanted…so long as you were supervised."

Kushina huffed and threw her arms up in frustration. "No, not even seeing my Minato is worth doing what _you_ want me to." She paused and stared at him suspiciously. "Would you go so low as to bring my _son_ into this mess?"

"You're son is _dead_, and him not even having remembered you is a suitable punishment for your years of disobedience." He said coldly.

"And I get to spend every waking moment hating you for it." Kushina retorted.

The silence was spent with each other glaring at the other, the feelings of frustration and disdain hanging heavy in the air, but neither of them were willing to be the one who backed down first. They were rather proud in their own rights, and Kushina's years of unyielding had done nothing to make the man more co-operative with her.

"Will you at least tell me what that racket was out here? It sounded like millions of chirpings." Kushina pointed out as this was getting neither of them anywhere.

"That's because it _was_, to think though if you looked out you might have seen Frost even." He replied.

Kushina's eyes lit up with interest. "Someone else was here?" she didn't know whether to be appalled or intrigued. Had he kidnapped someone else or had someone actually _come_ to this place willingly? For just a moment she felt like she had missed her chance to leave this place finally. "It's a shame, I would have liked to have met this 'Frost,' he could have helped me."

The man smirked briefly before it turned into a scowl as the woman's sentence ran on. "I would not have allowed that."

Kushina glared at him. "_Would not have allowed that?"_ she repeated outraged and kicked her foot out at him, but he dodged her attempt. "When that opening is cleared, I am _out of here_."

"You can't go without me, I have made this clear," The man said and his expression melted away to what looked like anxiety, "we're supposed to be together, that's why you exist."

Kushina's glare hardened as she heard this explanation again. He'd been trying to justify kidnapping her when she had died and the fact he had watched her when she was alive unnerved her greatly; he believed since she was the Kyuubi's host that she might be just what he needed because of what she told Kyuubi himself.

"_You may keep the world at bay, but_ I_ keep _you_ at bay."_

Kushina was really starting to hate herself for saying that, now even more since someone else had been listening in on it. It never made much sense for him to think they _did_ need to be together, since clearly he was still going to do what he wanted and she wanted nothing to do with _him._ In some twisted way what she said might have made sense, but again, with what they were both doing; what was the point of what he did?

What he had done next hadn't endeared him to her as after realizing she was unhappy with being kidnapped from the scene where she had just watched her husband die and her son have his life ruined with him in her arms, the man _married_ her. As Kushina had been extremely reluctant and didn't go along with it, something he'd found annoying, the marriage was really just bound his say so as a 'king.'

He had learned very quickly trying to call her his 'bride' or 'queen' ended up with getting a punch to the face so had instead merely settled with 'woman.' Kushina hated it, but he refused to call her anything else just as she refused to do the same even though they both knew each other's names.

Kushina sighed deeply in both frustration and self-loathing. "I was speaking to a demon, why would you think that applied to _you _and why would you _want_ it too?"

The man scowled once more and crossed his arms as he turned away. "Because when you said that, I knew I had found someone who had the experience to not be bothered by what I was."

"I didn't like Kyuubi, nor do I like you!" Kushina retorted and the man waved away what she said.

"Details, details," he said but paused and shot a finger in her direction that was punctuated by a smirk, "though I notice you didn't rebuff what I said about not being bothered."

Kushina hunched her shoulders together and her cloak fell in front of her shoulders. "Shut up, Pitch." She said and walked in the left side direction back to her room.

If she had stayed a second longer she would have seen the stunned look on the man's face at being addressed by his name.

* * *

When Kushina heard the next commotion outside years later, she peered out of her room and went down the hall to see the creatures all fleeing out of the opening in the ceiling. Kushina's eyes widened and she felt a rush at the thought of freedom being so close and Pitch was nowhere in sight. She didn't know where he spent his years, but after all he did she couldn't really care.

She was _free_ now!

When the last of the creatures was gone, Kushina hurried over to the opening and grabbed a hold of the wall; the fact she had to pull herself up didn't bother her 'cause of what lied ahead was more important right now. She stepped off the ground and wished she still had chakra to make this easier, but dying apparently got rid of all that.

Kushina grunted as she was tackled from behind and pulled off the wall, sending them both to the floor and she shoved Pitch off her. "No!" she shouted angrily. "You don't get to stop me after all this, I want my freedom!"

"Listen here woman," Pitch said gripping her by the arm, "I know full well you won't come back, don't bother denying it!" he said upon hearing Kushina's scoff and she scowled at him. "The only way to make sure you do is for me to go with you."

Kushina wrenched her arm out of his hand. "You could trust me." She said idly but this time Pitch scoffed at her. She looked longingly up at the sky that was so close now and she would have agreed to anything to get out, even if… Kushina looked back at Pitch seriously. "Fine, you let me out for the day, and I'll come back before dark, how does _that_ sound?"

Pitch didn't look happy at being undermined, but he knew that Kushina would have kept up trying to escape and he really didn't need that; though it wasn't like he trusted her. "You _will_ come back before dark or that's the last time you will _ever_ go out alone. I find at that point no one will want anything to do with you once they see me with you."

Kushina scowled at him before she straightened out her hood and went back to climbing up the dirt wall, the slight crevices providing excellent leverage for her and her breathing got quicker as she got closer to the top. When she pulled herself out of the hole in the ground, she stood up and let the sunlight beat down on her, smiling at seeing such a sight in front of her. She wouldn't take this for granted, she thought staring around at the forest in awe.

Kushina pulled up her hood even though she could have stared at the sun itself for hours and walked through the forest, breathing in the smell of the trees and feeling the wind brush past her. From the location of the sun she'd guess it was sometime in the early morning or late afternoon, but the time slot didn't matter because she got to _leave_, even if it was only going to be for a few hours.

She had been too righteously angry and prideful to ever think of giving a compromise for just going out for a walk, but when she put her mind to something, she didn't do it half way. She'd spent the very first night in her room and refused to come out ever since until the commotion warranted a look after all.

For just a moment though, she wondered if she should be feeling guilty about what happened, or almost happened. Kushina shook her head at the thought and resolved if it _had_ been a problem, then Pitch would have been boasting about it instead of hiding in that crevice from his creatures.

Kushina's gaze turned back to the beautiful forestry draped in crystalline white frost; the cold should have bothered her, but again with spending all these years in the cold, dark, lair, it had stopped bothering her much. She had heard of snow, though Fire Country obviously never had any and she had never got the chance to go to Snow Country. The redhead leaned down and scooped up a handful of snow and marvelled in childish wonder at the feel of it in her hand and when she crushed it in her fingers it fell through back to the ground. _'Wow, it's so…versatile.'_ She thought and continued walking through the forest in hopes of finding something to entertain herself.

Which she thought wasn't going to be all that difficult.

Kushina strolled along and looked back to make sure she didn't lose sight of where the location of the lair was so she wouldn't have Pitch coming to fetch her like she was a dog that got lost; it just reminded her of how painfully short the leash on her was. She was under no illusion that he thought he was actually in control of her because he _wasn't_ and she held no control over him no matter _what_ he said about them being for each other.

Minato was for her, he always would be and no amount of blackmail was going to change that. Though Pitch had declared them married, Kushina would always see her marriage to Minato as a _real_ wedding than just with a say-so. She had a history with Minato and grew up with him while Pitch just showed up after she died and brought her to his lair.

After that whole thing with literally closing herself off away from him, Kushina had no idea where she was or how much time actually _had_ passed, but the thought of Pitch telling her that her baby was now _dead_ didn't sit well with her. Could he have ripped her heart out any more than he already had by just so bluntly telling her that the child she _died_ to protect was now himself dead?

Kushina tried to shake off these thoughts and distract herself with the still admittedly beautiful scenery and she found herself walking into a small clearing where a pond was located, all shining and glittery in the light of the sun on the ice covering it. Kushina stepped closer and closer before putting her foot down on the surface, but she felt her foot slip out and she landed on the snow.

Kushina blinked as she stared up at the sky. _'That was…unexpected.'_ She thought and rose from the snow bank, brushing the substance off her cloak and tried once more to step onto the pond and though the first few steps were wobbly, she was able to stand on her own. She felt herself smile for the first time in a long time when she slid across the ice slowly as she didn't want to fall again.

The redhead kept up her tentative skating so intent on keeping herself upright that she didn't notice the form land on the rock formation on the side and looked down at her curiously. He seemed content to stare for a moment as he didn't recognize the woman but thought her eerie paleness wasn't quite _natural,_ she looked as pale as he did. "Hey." He called out and the redhead jumped before she fell once more onto the ice.

Kushina glanced wildly in the direction of the voice and saw a white-haired young man sitting lazily on a rock at the pond side with a staff. It took her a moment to realize that he had talked to _her_ and she looked around once more to make sure that no one else was around. "You…you can see me?"

The young man rolled his eyes. "Of _course_ I can see you," he said before frowning slightly, "who are you?"

"My name is Kushina." The redhead replied and was glad she had taken up learning the English language just to match Pitch with vitriol if it came to that. She didn't want to be caught off guard with what he was saying and the only reason she hadn't clobbered him when he first 'married' them was because she had no idea what he said.

That changed when she learned the language and found out what he _said_, but she was still too stubborn to go out and beat him up and resented him in silence.

The young man tilted his head and the frown shifted to a smile. "Name's Jack." He said and Kushina stared at him blankly. "So are you new?"

Kushina furrowed her brow before her eyes widened as she got what he meant. "Um, no, I…uh…was really out of it, dattebane!" she said and Jack raised a brow at the tacked on unknown word. "Are _you_ new?"

Jack smirked at her. "Only if you can call being around for three-hundred years 'new'."

Kushina grimaced as she couldn't imagine being around for that long, but all things considered with her _own_ lack of perception about how much time had gone by; well maybe she _could_ imagine it. "Do you just happen across spirits or is this your pond?"

"You could say something like that." Jack answered vaguely and Kushina rolled her eyes at the non-descript answer. "How is it you're so pale? What, you never get any sun?"

Kushina's flinch was almost imperceptive and she bit back the retort she wanted to say that 'no, she _didn't_ now a days,' but kept it to herself as she didn't want anyone to know about _where_ she spent all those years and where she had to back to. "Say, do you happen to know what time it is, I sort of lost track of it."

Jack frowned at her obvious attempt to change the subject but answered her anyway. "From when I left the town, it's 1 o'clock."

Kushina felt a rush at the mention of a town. "Is the place you came from nearby?" she asked as even though it meant she had to go back sooner than she would have liked, it also meant that the place was near enough for her _to_ go to.

Jack raised a brow but Kushina didn't try to hide her excitement and he just shrugged it off. "Just go that way," he said pointing behind him, "and you'll find it."

Kushina smiled at him graciously before she pulled up her hood. "Thank you for your help." She said cautiously moving off the ice and onto the snow bank.

Jack saluted her and winked. "No problem, and if you ever need any more help, just remember that this is Jack Frost's pond."

As those words were uttered, Kushina froze entirely for a split second and looked up at the young man, her thoughts going back to what Pitch said and she looked away before he could notice she was still there; but to think that this…_kid_ had a hand in beating Pitch? She might not like Pitch, but even she found that rather unbelievable.

Still, now that she knew where to find him, she could ask Jack if she came back to the pond. She knew she'd have to ease into the questioning about what had _exactly_ happened or else she might seem suspicious.

* * *

Kushina walked through the town, her eyes taking in the sight of the few people out on the streets but most driving in their machines of some kind. She would have to learn what those were and what other kinds of technology this part of the world held or the advancements in of itself anyway.

Though that didn't mean she wasn't amazed with how similar it seemed to Konoha and how _different_ it was at the same time; there were shops and buildings like in the village but again those machines really brought out the contrast. The big difference was that no one was using chakra or jutsus to get around and she found it only slightly disconcerting but other than that she really had no problem with this world.

Kushina stopped in her tracks at that thought and gritted her teeth, feeling shame flush through her as not five minutes ago she was mad that she didn't get to see her son and _now_ she pulled a 180 with these thoughts? No, she supposed she didn't need to punish herself with feeling like this, and she blinked before she narrowed her eyes and turned back to the forest, any thoughts of furthering to visit the town were gone as a new plan formed.

She was going to get back at Pitch, but not in the most…_obnoxious_ ways she could have, no, she was going to prove to him that he couldn't get her down and that her time was _her_ time. So holding her head up higher, Kushina marched back into the forest to find Jack Frost.

Just thinking about how Pitch would react when she rubbed it in his face would certainly be worth whatever fight they got in.

* * *

**A/N: This was specifically meant as to be an introspective of sorts and the plot threads were meant to be left hanging about what happens next.**


End file.
